FreshBooks Office is Closed Today, August 2nd, for the Civic Holiday

The FreshBooks office will be closed today, Monday August 2nd. It unfortunately means the support lines will be closed but email support and we’ll happily get back to you on Tuesday, August 3rd.

The Civic Holiday is a bit of a confusing holiday for Canada, mostly because it’s celebrated differently depending on your geographic location. In Ottawa, our nation’s capital, Civic holiday is known as Colonel By Day, which celebrates the life of Lieutenant-Colonel John By, who was not only a brilliant English military engineer that supervised the construction of the Rideau Canel, but also the founder of the city of Ottawa himself. In the city of Sarnia, Ontario, Civic Holiday is known as Alexander Mackenzie Day, which celebrates the life of our second Prime Minister. Unlike Ontario, some Provinces simply made Civic Day a day to celebrate their own Province, so the first Monday of August can also be known as British Columbia Day in the province of British Columbia, or Saskatchewan Day in the province of Saskatchewan.

Feeling discombobulated yet? Yes? Too bad! Not only is the holiday celebrated differently, some provinces simply don’t celebrate it at all! Sometime, I do feel bad for the hard working folks in Quebec, Yukon, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

In the City of Toronto, we celebrate a man that could pretty much kick your butt (and mine too). Introducing John Graves Simcoe — even the Old Spice Guy would have to bow down to him.

Simcoe pretty much founded Upper-Canada (which would later become the Province of Ontario), making him the first Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. He also fought in the American Revolutionary War, created settlement opportunities with land grants, founded Toronto as the capital of Ontario, and commenced the construction of two major thoroughfares: Dundas St. and Yonge St. On top of all that, Simcoe abolished slavery in 1810. Talk about an over-achiever!

Just like the holiday, FreshBook-ers will be celebrating in all sorts of different ways. Some of us are taking a vacation to visit our friends South of the border or at other destinations, some of us will be taking the time to explorer the city of Toronto. I for one, will be firing up the grill for some good o’l backyard BBQ with friends and family. Unfortunately this means that on Monday, our office will be closed, but as always, you can email us (support [at] freshbooks dot com) and we’ll be sure to get back to you as soon as we can on Tuesday, August the 3rd.

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